• By

    Dana Sparks

    Tuesday Tips: Healthy Halloween treats

a wooden tray of healthy Halloween treats of bananas and tangerines

Trick-or-treating and Halloween can be fun but it can be the first challenge for people watching their weight, with the feasting seasons of Thanksgiving and other feasting holidays loom on the horizon. Try these healthy tips from Caitlin Terspstra and other dietitians with the Mayo Clinic Health System:

  • Halloween candy packs a punch. Hard candies contain 110 calories per ounce; chocolate bars are 150 calories per ounce. Even the innocent looking fun-sized candy bars average 100 calories each, meaning 10 of them could easily exceed 1,000 calories. A child’s caloric intake for an entire day is typically 1,800.
  • Minimize trick-or-treat temptations. Hold off on buying Halloween candy too early to minimize snacking. Don’t purchase your favorite candy. Consider sugar-free gum, small bags of pretzels or fat-free candies. Forego sugary treats altogether by giving out stickers, temporary tattoos, bouncy balls, yo-yos, colorful pencils or pencil toppers.
  • Make your Halloween party a scream with healthy snacks. Veggie or fruit platters with fat-free dips, fat-free popcorn and sugar-free gelatin can be real crowd-pleasers. Here are some suggestions:

    — Dip bananas in yogurt, to look like ghosts, and add two mini chocolate chips for eyes.
    — Spread peanut butter between two apple slices and put mini marshmallows between the slices for teeth.
    — Make a candy corn veggie plate by layering baby carrots, sliced yellow peppers on top of carrots and topped with cauliflower florets. Assemble on a plate in the shape of candy corn (triangle).

FUN HALLOWEEN RECIPES:

Yogurt Fruit Dip
3 cartons of blueberry light yogurt
8 ounces fat-free cream cheese
2 – 3 tablespoons lemon juice
Dash of lemon zest
Blend until smooth
100 calories per cup

Pumpkin Dip
1 can pumpkin
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 package (small) sugar-free vanilla instant pudding
1 cup skim milk
½ teaspoon nutmeg
Mix until smooth, spread in a shallow dish. Top with whipped topping
160 calories per cup

Quick Caramel Dip
1 package sugar-free instant butterscotch pudding
1 package dry-mix whipped topping
1 ½ cups skim milk
Mix well
10 calories per tablespoon

Witches Brew with Funny Face Ice Cubes
Diet or sugar-free blueberry juice (or another sugar-free fruit juice)
Blueberries
Mandarin oranges or strips of strawberries

Pour juice into punch bowl. Fill ice tray or muffin tin half full with water and freeze. After the water is frozen, add blueberries (for eyes) and orange or strawberry strip (for the mouth). Cover with water and freeze again. Add ice cubes to punch before serving.

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